The structure determination of intrinsic defects in 4H-SiC, 6H-SiC, and 3C-SiC by means of EPR is based on measuring the angular dependence of the 29Si/13C hyperfine (HF) satellite lines, from which spin densities, sp-hybrid ratio, and p-orbital direction can be determined over... (Read more)

Fluorine-vacancy (FV) complexes have been directly observed in the Si0.94Ge0.06 layer in a Si-SiGe-Si structure, using variable-energy positron annihilation spectroscopy (VEPAS). These complexes are linked to the significant reduction of boron diffusion in the SiGe layer via... (Read more)

In this paper we present a systematic study on the formation of He ion implantation induced nanovoids in Si and how they influence the self-interstitial (Is) supersaturation, thus affecting the diffusion and electrical activation of implanted boron in crystalline silicon. We implanted He ions... (Read more)

An antisite-vacancy pair and a monovacancy are a set of fundamental stable and/or metastable defects in compound semiconductors. Theory predicted that carbon antisite-vacancy pairs would be much more stable in p-type SiC than silicon vacancies and that they would be a common defect. However,... (Read more)

Large vacancy clusters, or voids, formed during crystal growth have been reported in Ge. The divacancy is a precursor to such clusters, and is believed to be stable up to 150 or 180 °C. It is also believed to form in Ge irradiated at room temperature where single vacancies are mobile. Density... (Read more)

We use ab initio methods to calculate the magnetic properties of vacancies in a graphitic boron nitride sheet (g-BN). By applying a full spin-polarized description to the system, we demonstrate that the nitrogen vacancy (VN) or the boron vacancy (VB)... (Read more)

Fe-doped ZnO nanocrystals are successfully synthesized and structurally characterized by using x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Magnetization measurements on the same system reveal a ferromagnetic to paramagnetic transition temperature above 450 K with a low-temperature... (Read more)

A computationally efficient hybrid Green's function (GF) technique is developed for multiscale modeling of point defects in a trilayer lattice system that links seamlessly the length scales from lattice (subnanometers) to continuum (bulk). The model accounts for the discrete structure of the lattice... (Read more)

The exact, linear response at steady state is calculated for reacting, but otherwise noninteracting, thermal defects driven by defect creation processes. The theory applies to vacancies and interstitials in the bulk, or to adatoms and advacancies on surface terraces. A wide variety of possible... (Read more)

Understanding radiation-induced defect formation in carbon materials is crucial for nuclear technology and for the manufacturing of nanostructures with desired properties. Using first-principles molecular dynamics, we perform a systematic study of the nonequilibrium processes of radiation damage in... (Read more)

We carry out a comprehensive density-functional study of the vacancy-oxygen (VO) center in germanium using large H-terminated Ge clusters. The importance of a nonlinear core correction to account for the involvement of the 3d electrons in Ge-O bonds is discussed. We calculate the electrical... (Read more)

Intrinsic interstitials in GaAs are known to have a large formation energy that makes their concentration almost negligible in as-grown materials. However, interstitials must be explicitly considered in implanted GaAs where collision cascades, induced by the energetic ions, produce a large amount of... (Read more)

Positron lifetime spectroscopy was used to study native vacancy defects in semi-insulating silicon carbide. The material is shown to contain (i) vacancy clusters consisting of four to five missing atoms and (ii) Si-vacancy-related negatively charged defects. The total open volume bound to the... (Read more)

Ab initio supercell calculations of the binding energies predict complex formation between aluminum and carbon interstitials in SiC. In high-energy implanted SiC aluminum acceptor can form very stable complexes with two carbon interstitials. We also show that carbon vacancy can be attached to... (Read more)

We report the diffusion of boron, arsenic, and phosphorus in silicon isotope multilayer structures at temperatures between 850 °C and 1100 °C. The diffusion of all dopants and self-atoms at a given temperature is modeled with the same setting of all native-point-defect-related parameters.... (Read more)

A first-principles-based model is developed to investigate the influence of lead vacancies on the properties of the disordered Pb(Sc1/2Nb1/2)O3 (PSN) ferroelectric. Lead vacancies generate large, inhomogeneous, electric fields that reduce barriers between energy... (Read more)

First-principles plane-wave calculations were performed for hydroxyapatite (HAp) in order to investigate the electronic structure and vacancy formation mechanisms. The HAp unit cell contains PO4 tetrahedra and OH groups formed by covalent P-O and H-O bonds. Ca ions play a role for... (Read more)

The migration of monovacancies (V0) and self-interstitials (I) has been observed in ion-implanted low-doped float-zone silicon by variable-energy positron annihilation spectroscopy. V0 and I were created by the in situ implantation of ~20 keV... (Read more)

We have investigated the dimensionality and origin of the magnetotransport properties of LaAlO3 films epitaxially grown on TiO2-terminated SrTiO3(001) substrates. High-mobility conduction is observed at low deposition oxygen pressures... (Read more)

As discovered by Ohtomo and Hwang, a large sheet charge density with high mobility exists at the interface between SrTiO3 and LaAlO3. Based on transport, spectroscopic, and oxygen-annealing experiments, we conclude that extrinsic defects in the form of oxygen vacancies... (Read more)

We find, using a local density approximation +Hubbard U method, that oxygen vacancies tend to cluster in a linear way in SrTiO3, a prototypical perovskite oxide, accompanied by strong electron localization at the 3d state of the nearby Ti transition metal ion. The vacancy... (Read more)

We have determined silicon self-diffusivity at temperatures 735–875 °C based on the Raman shift of longitudinal optical phonon frequencies of diffusion annealed 28Si/30Si isotope superlattices. The activation enthalpy of 3.6 eV is obtained in such low temperature... (Read more)

The authors calculate energy levels associated with the oxygen vacancy in monoclinic HfO2 using a hybrid density functional which accurately reproduces the experimental band gap. The most stable charge states are obtained for varying Fermi level in the HfO2 band gap. To compare... (Read more)

Photoluminescence spectroscopy has been used to study single crystalline ZnO samples systematically annealed in inert, Zn-rich and O-rich atmospheres. A striking correlation is observed between the choice of annealing ambient and the position of the deep band emission (DBE) often detected in ZnO. In... (Read more)

The density and spatial distribution of oxide precipitates within a crystalline silicon wafer is of paramount importance for microelectronic device yield. In this letter, the authors show how the formation of previously unconsidered, very small vacancy aggregates can explain macroscopic spatial... (Read more)

The fluorine incorporation into HfO2 with oxygen vacancies has been investigated using first principles calculations. The authors show that atomic fluorine can efficiently passivate the neutral oxygen vacancy with excess energies of 4.98 and 4.39 eV for threefold- and... (Read more)

The authors have calculated that fluorine substituting for oxygen gives no gap states in HfO2. This accounts for the good passivation of oxygen vacancies by F seen experimentally. Bonding arguments are used to account for why F may be the most effective passivant in ionic oxides such as... (Read more)

Based on ab initio density-functional energetics for saturated (n=2m+2) fluorine-vacancy clusters FnVm for m up to 4, the authors set up a model showing that (a) fluorine-vacancy (FV) aggregates in Si can form in any... (Read more)

The authors report on the influence of nitrogen incorporation on vacancies in GaAs based superlattices. The samples were molecular beam epitaxy grown on p-type GaAs substrates with the superlattice structure consisting of ten periods of quantum well material separated by GaAs buffers. Three... (Read more)

Using density functional theory, the interaction of hydrogen with a nitrogen vacancy in -Si3N4 is investigated. A single H atom was found to be energetically favorable over non- and doubly protonated vacancies. The traps composed of excess silicon and hydrogen have negative... (Read more)

Fe-doped HfO2 thin films are room temperature ferromagnetic. In comparison with results of the undoped HfO2 films, it seems that the Fe doping is not the main cause for the ferromagnetism but only acts as a catalyst. Experimental results of oxygen annealing and vacuum heat... (Read more)

The variable retention time phenomenon has recently been highlighted as an important issue in dynamic random access memory (DRAM) technology. Based on electrically detected magnetic resonance and simulation studies, we suggest that a single Si vacancy-oxygen complex defect is responsible for this... (Read more)

We derive a simple expression for the average angular orientation distribution of ferromagnetic FePt particles in an applied field in thermal equilibrium. This system is closely related to the Langevin expression for paramagnetic susceptibility, which computes the average orientation of particles in... (Read more)

The self-diffusion coefficient of zinc in ZnO is derived as a function of the chemical potential and Fermi level from first-principles calculations. Density functional calculations in combination with the climbing image-nudged elastic band method are used in order to determine migration barriers for... (Read more)

We have investigated the interface states in HfO2/SiO2/Si(100) systems that were prepared by using the in situ pulsed laser deposition technique. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data revealed that when the HfO2 film thickness exceeds 11 Å, the film... (Read more)

Two occupied native defect bands are experimentally detected in pure HfO2. The density of states of band one in the middle of the band gap reduces drastically with the Al addition, while that of band two slightly above the valence-band maximum remains rather unaffected. We attribute the... (Read more)

Based on theoretical calculations, we find that at p+ polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si)/HfO2 gates, Si interstitials are easily migrated from the electrode, forming HfSi bonds with a charge transfer to the electrode, and the resulting interface dipole raises the Fermi level... (Read more)

We present an ab initio density functional study on the electronic structure and electrical properties of divacancies in Ge. Although suffering essentially different Jahn-Teller distortions when compared to the analogous defect in Si, the relative location of the electrical levels in the gap... (Read more)

Hydrogen-vacancy related defect (H1) in chemical vapor deposition homoepitaxial diamond films has been investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance and cathodoluminescence. It is found that the concentration of H1 significantly decreases as the dilution... (Read more)

We investigate theoretically light- and bias-induced metastabilities in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) based solar cells, suggesting the Se–Cu divacancy complex (VSe-VCu) as the source of this hitherto puzzling phenomena. Due to its amphoteric nature, the... (Read more)

Nitrogen-doping effects in silicon crystal growth have been theoretically studied using thermodynamical simulation based on first-principles calculation results. The results show that the densities of various complexes are determined in the balance between the enthalpy effects and the entropy... (Read more)

The dominant charge state for the Ga vacancy in GaAs has been the subject of a long debate, with experiments suggesting −1, −2, or −3 as the best answer. We revisit this problem using ab initio calculations to compute the effects of temperature on the Gibbs free energy of... (Read more)

The impact of TiN deposition on thin HfO2 films formed on Si substrates was studied using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and a monoenergetic positron beam. For the predeposition sample, the positrons implanted into Si were found to diffuse toward the HfO2/Si interface under... (Read more)

Vacancy-impurity complexes in polycrystalline Si (poly-Si) used as a gate electrode of the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) were probed using monoenergetic positron beams. Doppler broadening spectra of the annihilation radiation and the positron lifetimes were measured for... (Read more)

The elevated-temperature properties of the N vacancy in Mg-doped, p-type GaN containing H were modeled using atomic-configuration energies and phonon densities of states obtained with density-functional theory. This study encompassed both equilibrium thermodynamics and the rates of diffusion... (Read more)

We have used positron annihilation spectroscopy to study the thermal behavior of different native vacancy defects typical of freestanding GaN grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy under high pressure annealing at different annealing temperatures. The results show that the... (Read more)

Photoluminescence and positron annihilation spectroscopy have been used to characterize and identify vacancy-type defects produced in ZnO films grown on sapphire by metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition. The photoluminescence of the samples in the near band edge region has been studied, paying... (Read more)

Nitrogen is known to reduce leakage currents and charge trapping in high-dielectric-constant gate oxides such as HfO2. We show that this occurs because nitrogen, substituting for oxygen atoms next to oxygen vacancy sites, repels the occupied gap states due to the neutral and positively... (Read more)

In He implantation induced cavities highly contaminated with metals (Au, Ni, Pt) we found that, when no three-dimensional structure is observed, the shape of the cavities can be strongly modified depending on the nature of the metal and on its trapped quantity. The equilibrium shape of cavities is... (Read more)

The presence of vacancy clusters in carbon nanotubes has been assumed to explain the formation of carbon peapods and the difference between the experimentally measured and theoretical fracture strength of nanotubes. We use atomistic simulations at various levels of theory to study the... (Read more)

The dynamics of multivacancy defects in a graphene layer is investigated by tight-binding molecular dynamics simulations and by first principles calculation. The simulations show that four single vacancies in the graphene layer first coalesce into two double vacancies, each consisting of a... (Read more)

Density-functional-theory calculations were performed for the unrelaxed +2 Si vacancy and +2 self-interstitial utilizing periodic boundary conditions and two different methods—the uniform background charge method and the local moment counter charge method—for circumventing the divergence... (Read more)

We calculate the exchange interaction parameters of a classical Heisenberg Hamiltonian for Mn-doped ZnO (Mn concentration between 5% and 20%) by an ab initio Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker coherent-potential-approximation method in the framework of density functional theory. A weak antiferromagnetic... (Read more)

Based on a series of supercell density functional calculations of Fe-doped TiO2 both with and without O vacancy (VO), we show that VO plays an important role in determining the magnetic properties of the dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS). Without... (Read more)

The annealing behavior of defects observed in electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and photoluminescence (PL) is discussed. We consider the divacancy (the P6/P7 EPR centers) and a previously unreported EPR center that we suggest is a VC-VSi-VC... (Read more)

Sr1−3x/2LaxTiO3 perovskites exhibit large variations in radiation resistance and A-site vacancy ordering, depending on x and thermal history. In this study we use a combination of ab initio and classical simulation techniques... (Read more)

Atomic configurations, formation energies, electronic transition energies, and binding energies of the silicon divacancy in the +1, 0, −1, and −2 charge states were obtained from density functional theory calculations. The calculations were performed using the local density approximation... (Read more)

Using a combination of the local-basis ab initio program SIESTA and the activation-relaxation technique we study the diffusion mechanisms of the gallium vacancy in GaAs. Vacancies are found to diffuse to the second neighbor using two different mechanisms, as well as to the first and fourth... (Read more)

NaAlH4 and LiBH4 are potential candidate materials for mobile hydrogen storage applications, yet they have the drawback of being highly stable and desorbing hydrogen only at elevated temperatures. In this letter, ab initio density functional theory calculations reveal... (Read more)

We have irradiated Li2NH powder with MeV electrons at room temperature and investigated the introduced defects with electron spin resonance. Conduction electron spin resonance indicates the presence of nanosize metallic Li colloids seen as a Lorentzian line with a g=2.0023 and a... (Read more)

Si p-type (100) samples were coimplanted at room temperature with He+ ions at 30 keV with a dose of 1×1016 ions/cm2 and successively with H+ ions at 24 keV with a dose of 1×1016 ions/cm2. A series of samples was... (Read more)

First-principles pseudopotential calculations have been performed to investigate intrinsic defects including vacancies, interstitials, antisite defects, as well as Schottky and Frenkel defects in PbFCl crystals. For the isolated vacancies and interstitials, their formation energies are critically... (Read more)

Adsorption of gold atoms and clusters (N=6) on a graphite (0001) surface with defects has been studied using density functional theory. In addition to perfect graphite (0001), three types of surface defects have been considered: a surface vacancy (hole), a pyridinelike defect comprising three... (Read more)

The atomic configurations and formation energies of a silicon vacancy in the +2, +1, 0, −1, and −2 charge states have been computed using density-functional theory with norm-conserving pseudopotentials and a plane wave basis. Calculations were performed in simple cubic supercells using... (Read more)

We report on room-temperature coherent manipulation of the spin of a single nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond and a study of its coherence as a function of magnetic field. We use magnetic resonance to induce Rabi nutations and apply a Hahn spin echo to remove the effect of low-frequency dephasing.... (Read more)

Li is present in hydrothermally grown ZnO at high concentrations and is known to compensate both n- and p-type doping due to its amphoteric nature. However, Li can be manipulated by annealing and ion implantation in ZnO. Fast, 20 ms flash anneals in the 9001400 °C range... (Read more)

An extended vibronic spectrum (up to six phonon replicas) has been measured by low temperature cathodoluminescence in pure c-BN microcrystalline samples obtained by high temperature high pressure method. The zero phonon line, found at 3.573 eV, should be connected to a center identified... (Read more)

The role of various types of defects in establishing the magnetic properties of the C60-based polymers and the single-wall carbon nanotubes is investigated. Comparing the role of carbon vacancies, and that of substitutional impurity atoms X (X=N, B, O, Si, P, and S) in... (Read more)

Experimental studies of Zn1−xCoxO as thin films or nanocrystals have found ferromagnetism and Curie temperatures above room temperature and that p- or n-type doping of Zn1−xCoxO can change its magnetic... (Read more)

We investigate the hole trapping process of a neutral oxygen vacancy in amorphous silicon dioxide (a-SiO2) using cluster calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) method. We show that trapping a hole at a neutral oxygen vacancy leads to the formation of several... (Read more)

Symmetry considerations are used in presenting a model of the electronic structure and the associated dynamics of the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond. The model accounts for the occurrence of optically induced spin polarization, for the change of emission level with spin polarization and for new... (Read more)

Diffusion and clustering of lattice vacancies in silicon as a function of temperature, concentration, and interaction range are investigated by kinetic lattice Monte Carlo simulations. It is found that higher temperatures lead to larger clusters with shorter lifetimes on average, which grow by... (Read more)

While correlated electron behavior is to be expected at oxide interfaces (IFs) involving Mott insulators, we show how strong correlations in the oxygen 2p states may be necessary to account for observed insulating behavior at charged (001)-IFs between the band insulators LaAlO3 and... (Read more)

The influence of post-sintering annealing on the dielectric properties of CaCu3Ti4O12 was investigated in the temperature range form 200 to 400 K. A dielectric peak featuring thermally activated Debye-like behavior was observed around 340 K (100 Hz). This peak... (Read more)

We present a comprehensive spin-density functional modeling study of the structural and electronic properties of donor-vacancy complexes (PV, AsV, SbV, and BiV) in Ge crystals. Special attention is paid to spurious results which are related to the choice of the boundary... (Read more)

Density-functional theory (DFT) calculations of intrinsic point defect properties in zinc oxide were performed in order to remedy the influence of finite-size effects and the improper description of the band structure. The generalized gradient approximation (GGA) with empirical self-interaction... (Read more)

The structural and electronic properties of the mercury vacancy defect in Hg1xCdxTe have been studied by combining the full-potential linear augmented plane wave and plane-wave pseudopotential method base on the density functional theory. Structural... (Read more)

First-principles calculations are presented for the phosphorus vacancy VP in ZnGeP2, using full-potential linearized muffin-tin orbital supercell local density functional theory calculations. We find the VP to have a high energy of formation compared to... (Read more)

We report our first-principles results on point defects in TiO2 in the rutile phase. Both the oxygen vacancy and titanium interstitial are considered. The size effect of the supercell has been examined and the localized state associated with the oxygen vacancy turns out to be sensitive to... (Read more)

The effects of isochronal thermal treatments on three -irradiation-induced point defects, named the E, ODC(II), and H(I) centers, are investigated in various types of commercial silica (a-SiO2). ODC(II) is investigated by means of photoluminescence spectroscopy,... (Read more)

Positron lifetime and Doppler measurements were performed on float-zone-refined and variously doped Czochralski-grown Si. The samples were irradiated by various particles (e, p, Kr) with energies between 2 MeV and 245 MeV. Electron or proton irradiation gave rise to... (Read more)

The structure of the SiO2/4H-SiC interface produced by dry oxidation has been studied using positron annihilation spectroscopy using energy-variable slow positron beams. Based on the Doppler broadening shape and wing parameter (S-W) correlation, the interface layer was... (Read more)